During the evening, 4 B-17's drop 800,000 leaflets on Orleans, Lorient, Rouen and Tours, France at 2005-2021 hours; no losses. This is the first CARPETBAGGER operation from Tempsford, England on this night. US airplanes begin flying supplies from UK to underground resistance forces in W Europe, this operation being coded CARPETBAGGER.

Acft T/O

Aborts

Over Pri

Over Sec

Over L/R

Bomb Load

Scoring

Losses

27

11

16

-

-

80x500lb GP84x500lb IB

Unobserved

0

Group Mission #9

WEDNESDAY, 5 JANUARY 1944

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force):

An Eighth Air Force report concludes that the US daylight strategic bombing program against Germany will be threatened unless steps are taken to reduce the enemy's fighter force, which has increased in strength in the W as a result of step-up in production, strengthening of firepower, and transfer of a larger percentage of fighters to the Western Front.

114 B-17's are dispatched to Halberstadt; 52 hit the primary and 55 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 35-11-19 Luftwaffe aircraft; 8 B-17's are lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 42 damaged; casualties are 1 KIA, 18 WIA and 81 MIA. 177 P-47's and 44 Ninth Air Force P-51's escort; they claim 29-11-14 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-47's are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 4 P-47's and 1 P-51 are damaged; casualties are 2 KIA and 2 MIA. Major James H Howard, a P-51 pilot of the 354th Fighter Group, shot down an Me 110 and then found himself the lone escort for a B-17 group being attacked by 30 Luftwaffe aircraft. For the next 30 minutes, he kept turning into the enemy fighters and firing until only one gun was firing; by this time, he was credited with 2-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft and saved the B-17's. Major Howard was awarded the Medal of Honor.

234 B-17's and 138 B-24's are dispatched to Brunswick; 47 B-17's hit the primary, 114 hit Osnabruck, 25 hit Bielefeld, 22 hit Peine, 10 hit Herford and 1 hit Nienburg; no B-24's hit the primary, 58 hit Meppen, 1 hits Lingen and 7 hit other targets; they claim 19-17-16 Luftwaffe aircraft; 16 B-17's and 2 B-24's are lost, 1 each damaged beyond repair and 47 B-17's and 7 B-24's damaged; casualties are 5 WIA and 176 MIA. This mission is escorted by 49 P-38's and 322 P-47's; they claim 2-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-38 and 2 P-47's are lost and 1 P-47 is damaged; casualties are 1 MIA. Among the PFF aircraft are 4 B-24's, this being the first time B-24's are used in this capacity.

During the evening, 4 B-17's drop 840,000 leaflets on Amiens, Lille, Cambrai and St. Omer France without loss.

Mission 185:

2 B-17's are dispatched to Wessel, Germany for a night test of Oboe Mk II; 1 aircraft aborts and 1 drops 2 tons of high explosive bombs on the target without loss.

Acft T/O

Aborts

Over Pri

Over Sec

Over L/R

Bomb Load

Scoring

Losses

24

0

24

-

-

288x500lb GP

Poor

0

Group Mission #13

FRIDAY, 21 JANUARY 1944

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force):

2 missions are flown:

Mission 187:

36 V-weapon sites in France, 34 in the Pas de Calais area and 2 in the Cherbourg area, are targeted; 24 are attacked by 302 of 597 B-17's and 68 of 198 B-24's (Bonnieres, France); 15 B-17's and 9 B-24's hit targets of opportunity (2 V-weapon sites and 3 airfields(Yvrench, France)); they claim 5-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-24's and a B-17 are lost, 3 B-24's are damaged beyond repair, and 103 B-17's and 41 B-24's are damaged; casualties are 2 KIA, 31 WIA and 74 MIA. This mission is escorted by 49 P-38's, 531 P-47's and 48 Ninth Air Force P-51's; they claim 6-0-4 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 2-2-0 on the ground; 1 P-47 is lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged; casualties are 1 MIA.

Mission 188:

During the night, 5 of 5 B-17's drop 1.2 million leaflets on Reims, Nantes, Le Mans, Tours and Orleans, France without loss.